Rhetorical Analysis Of Franklin Roosevelt's Speech

In most patriotic or any speeches given in history that try to prove an argument must have a strong dose of pathos. Pathos is the key to his speech because when something as bad as the Attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt was a able to rally his fellow Americans to bear arms and ready to avenge this attack. Especially when President Roosevelt said this, “No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.(15)”. President Roosevelt was very successful with this and got the clear majority of the people ready to go to war. Although there were some people disagreeing, but they were silenced by the majority of the people .

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected as the 32nd president of the United States in 1932, the third year of the worst economic depression in America's history. At the height of The Great Depression about 25% of America's workforce was unemployed, and the country was crying out for change. This is what he promised in the inaugural address he gave on March 3, 1933: change. He gave his speech to show the hearts and minds of the people of the USA that they will come back from this great hardship. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a powerful yet sympathetic tone of voice, dramatic pauses for emphasis, and plan to change how the country operated, in his Inaugural Address to reassure the nation that they will come back from the Great Depression.

In his Inaugural Address, Roosevelt recognized America becoming a highly capable nation. As its influence spread, Roosevelt declared that America must become the force that establishes peace around the world. He states in his speech that the him and the American people have duties to ourselves and other people which are both of utmost importance. Because of this, Roosevelt wanted to make it known that a nation’s sense of justice and hospitality truly matter and are

Roosevelt also uses this main topic for the mood of his entire speech; detailing the hopelessness that these families feel during this crucial time. Another great rhetoric device that Roosevelt utilizes in his speech is that of religion. In the closing statement of his inaugural speech, Roosevelt asks that, “In this dedication of a Nation we humbly ask the blessing of God. May He protect each and every one of us. May He guide me in the days to come.”  His reference to God was added in an attempt to bring together the American people even in the greatest despair by using the topic most relatable for people, especially at this time. Roosevelt also declares that, “These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.” Not only has he successfully engineered his speech in a way that puts audience members in the same state of mind, but he also goes on to enlighten these very same people to further instill hope and pride. Not only is this an effective rhetoric in his speech,

The famous speech, Pearl Harbor address to the nation by Franklin D. Roosevelt (president at the time) shows us a vast amount of rhetorical appeals: Pathos, Ethos, and Logos to the nation. This speech announced to us that the intended audience and the persuasion used in order to change the peoples’ minds to defend our nation. The Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation speech was given to tell the U.S. that Japan has initiated war by attacking Oahu, Hawaii; while also attacking islands on the Pacific coast. Roosevelt addressed to the nation the stance we must take in order to protect ourselves from Japan and from attacks in the future. It was also revealed that Japan deliberately planned and attacked Hawaii do to the distance between each other. The Japanese ambush caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. It was then that America made a move to attack the Japanese Empire on December 8, 1941.

Hours after Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan, gaining worldwide headlines, giving millions unanswered questions, the speech, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation was given one day after the event. On December 8th 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a speech to be remembered today, by using rhetorical devices and figurative language to strongly picture his message to the public, making great use of parallel structure, personification, parallelism, and climax ordering to enforce his key point of wanting Americans to stand up against the Japanese forces for the deliberate actions done towards there peaceful country, with no threat or hint of war or of an armed attack. With hopes of gathering support for the decision to declare war on Japan.

readers to be also engaged. His tone played a role to plant a sense of alert regarding

FDR has molded his whole speech so it mostly aims for an emotional (pathos) response from Congress and the American people. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt incorporated pathos into his speech when he said, “Our people, our territory, and our interests”. Using such phrasings gave the audience a feeling of togetherness with both the government and themselves. That kind of outlook was necessary so that FDR could bring in troops and also rally up patriotism from the citizens so that hope would not be lost. It

One way he is able to inform the US is by using repetition when addressing the nation about Japan’s recent strikes. He emphasizes Japan’s motives of avoiding peace by using repetition to list the places they had attacked within a twenty-four hour time span. In the speech, Roosevelt says “last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong… Last night…”. He continues to name five other countries Japan had attacked, beginning with saying “last night”. His use of repetition helps support his rhetorical purpose by showing that justice needs to be done for the damage that was

The first rhetorical appeal that President Roosevelt uses in this speech is ethos. The ethos in Roosevelt’s speech is quite apparent. As the President of the United States, he is already viewed as a credible source for information. Roosevelt provides a significant number of details pertaining to the attack on Pearl Harbor and other attacks that the Japanese carried out in conjunction with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, further establishing his ethos as a good source of information. By sharing additional details about the events of December 7th, it lends credibility to what he was saying about the bombings of Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt also strengthens his ethos by flaunting his sizeable vocabulary, “[A] date which will live in infamy... / [A]t the solicitation of Japan... / [T]his premeditated invasion...” By Roosevelt’s determination to use these vigorous words, he is hinting at the fact that he is indubitably well educated, which adds to his credibility. Roosevelt also tells everyone,”As the commander in chief of the Army and Navy, I have

Former Commander in Chief and President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his speech, “Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation,” discloses the details of Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Roosevelt’s purpose is to notify the nation about Japan’s aggressive naval actions and to petition Congress to declare war on Japan. He adopts a somber yet patriotic and confident tone in order to rally the citizens and members of Congress behind his proposal for war.

FDR knew that to connect with this audience and persuade them to see his point of view, he would have to appeal to them on every level possible. He uses ethos, pathos and logos in the speech to make these connections. The ethics (ethos) of his appeal was aimed at showing Americans that they could not turn a blind eye to the atrocities begin committed by the Axis powers ("World War II Fast"). He also heavily relied on his ability to appeal to the emotions (pathos) to grab the heart of each person listening throughout the

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of Japan.” This was spoken by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his Address to the Nation on December 8th, 1941. During President Roosevelt’s speech, he used logical appeals (logos), emotional appeals (pathos), and credibility appeals (ethos). Even though President Roosevelt was sitting in a wheel chair during his speech, it was still considered formal because he was the President. The reason this speech took place was to inform the nation about what Japan had done to our country and also to declare war.

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” (1). These are the words Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose to begin his Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation the day after Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan. FDR’s speech was a call to arms, and in his speech he expressed outrage towards Japan and confidence in inevitable triumph. The speech was a request to declare war against Japan and to bring the United States into World War II. FDR’s speech was successful in bringing the United States into World War II because FDR presented facts explaining why war needed to be declared and used righteous indignation

"Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a day which will live in infamy, the United States of America, was suddenly and deliberately attacked by Naval and Air Forces of the Empire of Japan," delivered by Franklin D. Roosevelt is regarded as one of the most important speeches given in US History to date. The speech was delivered to the State of the Union marking the United States' entrance into the Second World War against Japan and Germany.